Thủ tướng Đức nói về chế độ cộng sản
Thủ tướng Đức đă bày tỏ ḷng tôn kính những người chống đối chế độ cộng sản Đông Đức trong chuyến viếng thăm một nhà tù của cảnh sát an ninh tại Đông Berlin.
Thủ tướng Đức khuyến nghị giới trẻ hăy t́m hiểu về sự kiện quyền của con người đă thường xuyên bị cộng sản vi phạm như thế nào tại nhà tù của cảnh sát an ninh Đông Đức, hay c̣n gọi là Stasi .
We must never forget the injustice of the past
A view through the metal gate at the end of a corridor leading to cells in the former prison of the East German Ministry for State Security (MfS), in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen - today a memorial site
A corridor leading to cells in the former Stasi prison in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen
'It is important not simply to gloss over the dictatorship that was the German Democratic Republic or to forget this period of German history,' stressed Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking in what used to be a prison of the East German secret police, the Stasi, in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen. Today the building is a memorial.
The Chancellor laid a wreath and called on her audience to recognise the enormously important role played by those individuals who were prepared to oppose the GDR dictatorship. ‘This year in 2009 in particular, our thoughts should be with those who were brave enough to resist,’ Angela Merkel declared at the memorial site.
Hands-on history
Accompanied by the manager of the memorial site, Hubertus Knabe, and Berlin’s State Secretary for Cultural Affairs, André Schmitz, the Chancellor visited several cell blocks. Her round trip also took her to the basement of the notorious prison, which inmates dubbed the ‘U-Boot’ or submarine. In its windowless chambers the Stasi, the East German secret police, used to interrogate and torture prisoners, often for hours on end.
After her visit Angela Merkel remarked how the memorial site today makes it forcibly clear to the visitor ‘how brutally human dignity was violated here’.
With the support of former inmates Angela Merkel subsequently discussed violence and oppression during the dictatorship of the SED (the ruling party in the East German state) and her own personal experiences with twelfth grade students. ‘Even when you live in freedom you must have the courage to stand up,’ and swim against the tide if necessary,’ she encouraged the young people.
From a special camp to a secret police prison
Like hardly any other place, the site in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen mirrors the history of political persecution during the decades of communist dictatorship in East Germany. At the end of the Second World War the area was used as a special Soviet camp in which hundreds of prisoners died. Thereafter the Soviet secret police built the central Soviet remand prison for East Germany, which was subsequently taken over by the Ministry for State Security of the GDR.
Until 1990 the Stasi held individuals in Hohenschönhausen who were critical of the regime or who had tried to flee the country. In some cases it was enough to have expressed the desire to leave the GDR. Between 1951 and 1990 thousands of politically persecuted individuals were imprisoned here under intolerable conditions. They included civil rights activists like Bärbel Bohley, the writer Jürgen Fuchs and dissidents such as Rudolf Bahro.
Following German reunification the prison was closed and was declared a memorial site in 1994. Since large sections of the building and its furnishings have been left almost entirely unaltered, the complex gives an authentic impression of the brutal conditions that prevailed.
The site commemorates and explains
Every year more than 200,000 people visit the memorial site. Last year numbers were close to the 250,000 mark. About half of them were young people. Explaining the past to young people is also the focus of the educational work of the memorial.
In addition to guided visits the memorial regularly organises different exhibitions and special events such as seminars and projects. The history of the site is laid out in an information centre. In future a permanent exhibition is to provide information about the history of political persecution in East Germany, in what used to be the camp, in the main building.
The foundation is financed half by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and half by the State of Berlin. The memorial site also receives project-tied funds from other bodies including the Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur (Federal Foundation for a Contemporary Understanding of the One Party Dictatorship in the German Democratic Republic).
http://www.bundeskanzlerin.de/nn_127...ausen__en.html
A peaceful revolution
Chancellor Angela Merkel has praised the courage of civil rights activists in the German Democratic Republic, former East Germany. The Berlin Wall would never have come down, she said, had they not protested vociferously against the rigging of local elections. The Chancellor was speaking at a celebration to mark the twentieth anniversary of reunification entitled 'Twenty years ago - the eve of the peaceful revolution'. She called on her audience to prevent any false portrayal of the system that was the GDR, and to show courage today as activists did then.
The local elections in May 1989 marked the ‘beginning of the end for the GDR’ said the Chancellor. But the people did not know that at the time. ‘Their courage deserves our respect,’ said Angela Merkel speaking in the former GDR Council of State building, which today houses the European School of Management and Technology.
It is thanks to the civil rights movements that today we live in a country in which we enjoy liberty, the rule of law and democracy, she continued. ‘Dreams do not come true so often,’ the Chancellor said. This gives us grounds for self-confidence and optimism that we can master the current crisis facing us too.
Truth – the foundation on which democracy is built
History, has taught her three important lessons, said the Chancellor. The most important of these is that, ‘Truth is the foundation on which democracy is built.’ As she said, ‘We cannot and must not forget the injustice that has taken place.’ The GDR, she went on, was the ‘most tightly controlled system’ in the world. The consequences of living in permanent fear was living a lie. We must remember this, and prevent any false images of life in the GDR being propagated.
Her second lesson is that, ‘The belief in political omnipotence is a false belief.’ Politics alone cannot regulate everything for the people. Liberty means requiring people to lead a self-determined life and to accept responsibility for their actions. The GDR she said ‘failed because of the lack of freedom’.
Building substance
Thirdly, she continued, we must not live beyond our means. ‘We must build substance,’ demanded the Chancellor. The GDR is a perfect example of what happens when you try to live beyond your means on a permanent basis. Building substance means that, ‘We must focus on our education system and on innovations that will make our country strong.’
The Chancellor reminded her audience of the 8 May 1945, VE Day, the day on which Europe was liberated from the yoke of National Socialism. She reminded them that German unification was only possible, ‘because our neighbours trusted us’. She expressed her deep gratitude for this. It is, however, important to maintain and preserve the structures that guarantee liberty - not only inside our own country. The preservation of liberty, peace and human rights is not a national concern, she declared, but an indivisible global concern.
Twenty years ago – the eve of the peaceful revolution
The two days of celebrations in the former GDR Council of State building mark the peaceful revolution of 1989/90 and are part of the ‘Freedom and Unity’ celebrations with which the German government is commemorating the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany sixty years ago. The fall of the East German dictatorship and the process of German reunification twenty years ago are also being commemorated.
The rigged local elections on 7 May 1989 triggered the wave of protests and attempts to leave the country in East Germany in 1989. The civil rights movement uncovered the fraud, which brought it massive support. When Hungary dismantled its border fortifications in May of the same year, it was at last ‘curtains’ for the Iron Curtain that had divided Germany and Europe for so long.
http://www.bundeskanzlerin.de/nn_704...-esmt__en.html
Originally Posted by chiendau
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